"The Hohenwerfen Fortress" Top 5 Page for this destination Austria Things to Do Tip by Paul2001

The Hohenwerfen Castle is possibly the most dramatic situated castle that I have ever visited. I sits on a rocky crag in the middle of the deep Salzach Valley flanked by high mountains. In fact when I first saw the castle on a brochure, I was so taken with its setting and beauty that I decided to visit Austria just to see it. The photo here does not do justice to its majestic setting as I took on a rather dreary day (on top of being hungover).
The fortress was built in the 11th century by the Archbishop Gebhard von Felsenstein in order to protect Salzburg from it's southern flank from invaders from Bavaria. The castle has been rebuilt several times and what you see today is general from the 16th century. The castle has been used for the most part as a prison for which it developed a severe reputation because of the inhumane conditions here.
The castle can only be visited by German speaking tour. If you ask they might give you some English speaking summeries. The tour takes you through several dining halls, state rooms, a fresco chapel and torture chamber complete with a rack. There is a good snack bar here that serves beer and has a patio in the impressive courtyard.
Astute observes might recognize the fortress in several films. It can be seen in the background in that insipid film "The Sound of Music" during the "Do-Ra-Mi" song. It was also used as the setting for the film "Where Eagles Dare" with Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood.
The castle is open at wildly varying times throughout the year but it usually opens at 9am and stays open until 5pm. It cost 8 Euros to visit.

Directions: It is hard to miss as it dominates the village of Werfen. Werfen is 40km south of Salzburg and it makes a great daytrip along with the Eisriesenwelt ice caves nearby.

• Updated Mar 30, 2004
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